For a couple of years I’ve had Sandor Katz The Art of Fermentationsitting next to my chair. I’d skimmed it. It’s a thick book—maybe three pounds of information and a lot to take in. I am not unfamiliar with the arguments in favor of eating fermented food. When my brother Bart learned I could not cook and began a series of forced nightly cooking lessons many years ago, he started me on macrobiotics. It’s actually a simple way to eat.

Without going into excruciating detail macrobiotics, as a dietary regimen, emphasizes grain, especially brown rice, local vegetables in season (except for the nightshade family), fermented soy products, minimal amounts of meat and condiments such as ume plum and pickled veggies. I discovered it was pretty easy to become a macrobiotic chef. You need a pressure cooker, a wok, a pickle press and a grinder (to make gomashio—a tasty mix of roasted sesame and celtic salt).

Not strictly macrobiotic, we learned to enjoy pickled veggies. You slice cabbage, radish, carrot or whatever hard veggies were on hand, salt them a bit, pour in some ume vinegar and crank the lid down on your pickle press. In the morning, pour the pickle off and they are ready to eat. It’s a good, quick salad. It sits easy on the stomach.

But what we really hankered for was sauerkraut, a truly fermented food. So, last year, after studying Sandor Katz and doing some internet research, we invested in a water seal crock. Sandor is an evangelist for fermented foods and the many health benefits. Fermented foods aid in digestion, they provide more of the B vitamins, create micronutrients and help prevent cancer. Sandor goes on and on. Fermentation is also a good way to preserve food which has appeal on the self-sufficiency level.

But back to the water seal crock. You can ferment in jars and open crocks but there are problems. Explosion is the one I don’t want to deal with. The water seal crock allows gases to escape and allows for anaerobic fermentation of your veggies.

Last year we made two batches of sauerkraut. It was the best we had ever eaten. We went through it in short order. So, this year we decided to make as much as we could. A batch takes 5-6 weeks in the crock. I have planted so many cabbage that I will probably have to buy a second crock.